Gambling refers to a range of activities where participants wager or exchange monetary values on a random event, with the potential to win something of value. There are a variety of forms, including online gaming, sports betting, and lottery games.
Definition of Gambling:
Generally, gambling involves wagering on a random event where the outcome is determined by chance. This can include sports betting, lottery games, or other simulated games on social media platforms like Facebook.
Relationship harm:
Several groups of relationship harms were identified, with the most prevalent being harms that affected relationships between people who gambled and those who affected their gambling behaviour. These included the loss of time spent with the person who gambled or the loss of trust in a relationship due to engagement with gambling.
Emotional and psychological distress:
There were a number of harms that related to emotional and psychological distress, including the experience of distorted cognitions or erroneous beliefs. This was particularly prevalent in the data from those who gambled, and often exacerbated by the experiences of a lack of control or powerlessness.
General financial harm:
This group of general financial harms impacted on those who had limited or no surplus income or financial resources prior to engaging with gambling, or those who were consuming gambling products to the point where they were exhausting their surplus income or financial resources. These harms were characterized by a reduction in the capacity to spend on other discretionary but not luxury items, such as family outings or involvement in artistic, cultural, sporting or educational activities.